Speculation Over Carradine Death Widens

(CBS/ AP)  The body of American actor David Carradine, best known for the 1970s TV series "Kung Fu," was found in a hotel room closet with a rope tied to his neck and genitals, and his death may have been accidental suffocation, Thai police said Friday.

The 72-year-old actor's body was discovered Thursday in his luxury suite at Bangkok's Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel. Police initially said they suspected suicide, though Carradine's associates had questioned that theory.

Police Lt. Gen. Worapong Chewprecha told reporters that Carradine was found with a rope "tied around his penis and another rope around his neck."

"The two ropes were tied together," he said. "It is unclear whether he committed suicide or not or he died of suffocation or heart failure due to an orgasm."

Thai police completed an autopsy on Carradine Friday but so far have not released the results.

Dr. Nanthana Sirisap, director of Chulalongkorn Hospital's Autopsy Center, told reporters that the autopsy was conducted because of the "unusual circumstances surrounding Carradine's death," but he did not elaborate.

Police Lt. Teerapop Luanseng had said on Thursday that Carradine's body was found "naked, hanging in a closet," and that police at the time suspected suicide.

But actor Michael Madsen, a longtime Carradine friend, said The Early Show Friday the suicide theory "doesn't make sense."

"I could never have imagined anybody like David, (who) was so full of life and so happy and working," Madsen said. "You figure somebody might do something like that when they're unemployed or destitute. He was working hard and having a good time."

"I spoke to his wife this morning," Madsen added, "and she really wants everybody to know that David was not suicidal. Certainly, I would have known about something like that. Depression wasn't really a part of his personality. Whatever causes people to have that emotion, he seems to have -- seemed to have gotten over it.

One of Carradine's managers, Tiffany Smith, of Binder & Associates, also dismissed the theory.

"All we can say is, we know David would never have committed suicide," said Tiffany Smith, of Binder & Associates, his management company. "We're just waiting for them to finish the investigation and find out what really happened. He really appreciated everything life has to give ... and that's not something David would ever do to himself."

Carradine had flown to Thailand last week and began work on a film titled "Stretch" two days before his death, Smith said. He had several other projects lined up after the action film, which was being directed by Charles De Meaux.

Carradine was "in good spirits" when he left the U.S. for Thailand on May 29 to work on "Stretch," Smith said.

"David was excited to do it and excited to be a part of it," she said by phone from Beverly Hills.

Filming began Tuesday, she said, adding that the crew was devastated by Carradine's death and did not wish to speak publicly about it for the time being.

Aurelio Giraudo, the hotel's general manager, said Carradine checked into the hotel May 31 and he last saw him June 3. He said Carradine chatted with staff and even played piano a few nights in the lobby as well as flute which the "guests really enjoyed."

"I was a fan. I had a very nice talk with him when he checked in," Giraudo told The Associated Press. "He was very much a person full of life. I mentioned to him that I had seen (the movie) "Crank" with my family and that was the last smile he gave me."

Giraudo said a chambermaid discovered Carradine's body, adding that she knocked and entered after there was no response. Police arrived shortly thereafter.

Carradine, a martial arts practitioner himself, was best known for the U.S. TV series "Kung Fu," which aired from 1972-75. He played Kwai Chang Caine, an orphan who was raised by Shaolin monks and fled China after killing the emperor's nephew in retaliation for the murder of his kung fu master.

Carradine also appeared in more than 100 feature films with such directors as Scorsese, Ingmar Bergman and Hal Ashby.

He returned to the top in recent years as the title character in Quentin Tarantino's two-part saga "Kill Bill." Bill, the worldly father figure of a pack of crack assassins, was a shadowy presence in 2003's "Kill Bill - Vol. 1." In that film, one of Bill's former assassins (Uma Thurman) begins a vengeful rampage against her old associates, including Bill.

[toldyouso29]

BIG QUESTION: How does a lone man engaged in auto erotica, bind both his hands above his own head? choke himself? Sure? Get it up, then stroke himself to the point of ejaculation then choke himself? Uh...sure--but then, how did he do it with both his hands tied securely overhead and how did he stroke himself with no hands and manage to tie up both hands? WAs Carradine so flexible after years as a kung fu pro that the tied his hands up with his toes before 'getting down' to business and did his $%##2 stroke his ***** to orgasm? Because his hands sure couldn't!!!

Points the sexually obsessed crowd failed to consider_

1. It is not possible to bind both of ones own hands securely, especially not overhead where it would be impossible to use one's teeth to help

2. Hands bound overhead cannot stroke a ***** or anything else.

3. If this was the scenario the Thai cops and others are trying to paint, there will be ejaculate either all over Carradine's body, in the closet, or still in his urethra and that ejaculate will be as old as the time of the murder.

No ejaculate--maybe Carradine accidentally tied himself up and strangled himself too soon? Or maybe he was murdered and the thai police decided to make it look like a suicide or ---hey yeah!! that 'auto erotica" stuff without thinking through the actual logistics of the act.

One can strangle oneself--but not with hands bound SECURELY over his head.

This appears to be a robbery/murder staged to be something else--but those who THINK will see the flaws in this story.

[enough-already]

No idea is too wild for you so, entertain us all some more. ..... Posted by Slrman

Ok, I will entertain you, you're on your way to hell, entertain that thought, and keep your stupid comments around the table with you other moron friends.
Posted by CMancos

Hey, lighten up CMancos, his comment is no more STUPID than YOURS. Some people read these posts to hear diverse points of view on a variety of subjects. If you don't like it, why do you come here and read them?

[enough-already]

Erotic asphyxiation cuts supply of oxygen causing sexual arousal. Posted by MissUSA2009

I beg to differ, MissUSA. I have had my oxygen supply cut off several times in my life, and I can guarantee you, sexual arousal was the FURTHEST thing from my mind. My ONLY thought, consideration, desire, need, reason for being was: GET SOME AIR!
You've got to be pretty freaky to become sexually aroused when you can't breathe. That's just plain sick.

[Dgunner]

CA-CA HAPPENS.

[Expat type]

What I do not understand is why he was using a rope when he was in Bangkok????

[CMancos]

Let's hear it from the right-wingnuts religious reich conspiracy theorists. Was it space aliens sending us a message to desist from wild sexual aberrations and to kill gays as well as godless atheists? Or how about a CIA plot because Carradine was secretly working as an assassin for them using his martial arts skills (minimal at best) to help them change the course of history via selective killings? No idea is too wild for you so, entertain us all some more.
Posted by Slrman

Ok, I will entertain you, your on your way to hell, entertain that though and keep your stupid comments around the table with you other moron friends.

[lyndar2]

Just as he will be forever remembered as the grasshopper, he will be remembered for the
way he died. Wonderful talent wasted. My thoughts go out to his family.

[spiritwalk]

Like most things, this subject didn't get much attention until it happened to a celebrity.

Like a number of people I knew someone who had met the same fate, but because of the prudish nature of society it has been up something that goes on all the time, but that has not gotten attention.

Though not on the shame level of many sexual eccentricities it is something that kind of indciates that a person with this behavior might have some issues that need to be addressed. But, because the subjet has been so suppressed it is not one that people will willingly come out and ask help for.

By its very nature it is a dangerous past time and sooner or later you are likely to have it go to far and you are going to get yourself killed. Maybe this will have the affect of getting this out into the open and making people aware enough that those who are compelled to this might actually be able to ask for help without feeling a sense of shame. Maybe if it gets known as Carradine Syndrome or something it will make it easier to ask for help before they end up dead.

[MissUSA2009]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotic_asphyxiation

Erotic asphyxiation was first used in the 1600s as a treatment for erectile dysfunction. During the time of execution by hanging, people observed erection from males that were hanged. Occasionally, some hanged men also showed sign of ejaculation. Erotic asphyxiation cuts supply of oxygen causing sexual arousal. A lot of cases by autoerotic asphyxiation has been cited. Psychiatrist say this is a disorder since it has a potential for fatality or serious injury.

[CLoverNYC1]

The lesson to be learned here is this:

If you're going to jangle your joint, don't use a rope.